Thanksgiving gives boost to dept. stores in November

Shoppers braved the crowds and went online on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, helping to drive sales up at the nation’s leading department stores this November.

TJX’s sales for November were $2.0 billion, up 7% over the $1.8 billion achieved during the prior-year period. Same-store sales at the company were up 3% for the month.

Kohl’s posted a total sales increase of 8.1% for the month of November and a 6.1% gain in same-store sales. JCPenney’s total sales increased 7.2% in November. The company posted a same-store sales gain of 9.2%.

Macy’s Inc. reported total sales of $2.3 billion for the November period, an increase of 7.8% compared with total sales of $2.174 billion for the same period last year. On a same-store basis, Macy’s Inc. sales were up 6.1% in November.